Changes at Art Cologne

COLOGNE, Germany—Art Cologne director Gerard Goodrow is resigning from his position amid pressure from local dealers concerned about the fair's future, reports Bloomberg. Art Cologne drew 60,000 visitors last April, down 10,000 from 2006. Meanwhile, Oliver Kuhrt, director of Koelnmesse GmbH, the company that runs Art Cologne, announced in a press conference today that a sister fair started last September on the Spanish island of Majorca is "under examination" and may be scrapped. The new fair was an effort to improve the image of the 40-year-old Art Cologne, which struggles to compete with fairs in London, Basel, and Miami, and with a larger German art scene in Berlin. In November, a group of Cologne art dealers wrote an open letter complaining about Art Cologne's "bitter loss of status." The fair, which has not yet found a replacement for Goodrow, takes place April 16 to 20 this year, and will feature 150 exhibitors, down from 180 last year, in an effort to improve the fair's quality. In related news, the organizers of the Frankfurt Fine Art Fair have just announced that they are dropping the two-year-old endeavor due to low attendance.